<p>HYP and MIT were probably out of reach, but you had decent shot at the lower Ivies. I know a lot of people with weaker stats than you get into Cornell this year.</p>
<p>lamdun that's great to hear. </p>
<p>but when you say you were accepted to Stanford, even in complete monotone, it'll still come off as bragging :)</p>
<p>All I'm going to say is that numbers in the long run don't mean anything. I only had a 2000, but that didn't stop me from reaching, and I got into some comfortable schools, so don't really blame your unfortunate circumstance on your stats because those were fine enough in my opinion. Also, realize luck is the biggest thing these days for college, with applicant pools nearing 20,000 at some top schools, it just becomes a coin flip where some you'll win and some you'll lose, so don't give up, and I'm sure you got into some comfortable schools. Don't forget, college is what you make out of it, nothing else, so just make the best of your college years and enjoy them. Luckily senior year will both be done for both of us, and just forget the past if anything.</p>
<p>It's not that you had no chance. It's just that there are thousands of applicants just like you. You got lost in the crowd, I'm afraid.</p>
<p>what is college: now, if you had CURED your dad's brain tumor, THAT would be a hook! Seriously, the admissions process is pretty damn random at those top schools, and if you just look at the numbers you and 19,000 other bright, promising, hard working kids are not likely to be accepted. As the parent of an equally bright, promising, hard working child who got into some of her schools but not others, that is the only sensible way to view this process. You do the best you can and be the best you can be, and the rest is truly out of your control. And incidentally, the Princeton ad com said the essay only helps if it helps. He totally minimized its value. So to the poster who says his essay did the trick, maybe it did. And maybe he got in cuz they were looking for a red headed discus throwing philosophy major, or whatever else he's got going for him, this year. Now, for you, look ahead, consider the opps you do have and make the best of one of them. One year from now you will not care at all that you didn't get in to these schools. By the way, I hope your dad is OK. That's perspective for you.</p>
<p>Hey look, the **** will hit the fan in everybody's life sooner or later; not to sound like a hippie, but if you hold hands with something you're passionate about for the rest of your life, whether it be a sport, literature - you will be satisfied and you will have no regrets. A random-turd college app doesn't deserve to determine your life.</p>
<p>When it comes to stats such as yours, Whatiscollege, it's a crapshoot. You were qualified, but so were too many other applicants. It's easy to say that you didn't differentiate yourself because you didn't stand out in the eyes of the admissions officers (or they would have accepted you), but it's NOT easy to say why this is. Atlhough you have to play to win the lottery, just buying a ticket doesn't guarantee you a winner.</p>
<p>Things are getting tougher and tougher for smart, academically ambitious students. You will get an excellent education elsewhere. Invest yourself in your education wherever you go - and you will do well in life.</p>